Uploads administration (CORE ONLY)

Uploads represent all user data that may be sent to GitLab as a single file. As an example, avatars and notes' attachments are uploads. Uploads are integral to GitLab functionality, and therefore cannot be disabled.

Upload parameters

  • Changed in GitLab 13.5.
  • It's deployed behind a feature flag, enabled by default.
  • It's enabled on GitLab.com.
  • It's recommended for production use.
  • For GitLab self-managed instances, GitLab administrators can opt to disable it. (CORE ONLY)

In 13.5 and later, upload parameters are passed between Workhorse and GitLab Rails differently than they were before.

This change is deployed behind a feature flag that is enabled by default.

If you experience any issues with upload, GitLab administrators with access to the GitLab Rails console can opt to disable it.

To enable it:

Feature.enable(:upload_middleware_jwt_params_handler)

To disable it:

Feature.disable(:upload_middleware_jwt_params_handler)

Using local storage

This is the default configuration. To change the location where the uploads are stored locally, use the steps in this section based on your installation method:

In Omnibus GitLab installations:

NOTE: Note: For historical reasons, uploads are stored into a base directory, which by default is uploads/-/system. It's strongly discouraged to change this configuration option for an existing GitLab installation.

The uploads are stored by default in /var/opt/gitlab/gitlab-rails/uploads.

  1. To change the storage path for example to /mnt/storage/uploads, edit /etc/gitlab/gitlab.rb and add the following line:

    gitlab_rails['uploads_storage_path'] = "/mnt/storage/"
    gitlab_rails['uploads_base_dir'] = "uploads"
  2. Save the file and reconfigure GitLab for the changes to take effect.

In installations from source:

The uploads are stored by default in /home/git/gitlab/public/uploads/-/system.

  1. To change the storage path for example to /mnt/storage/uploads, edit /home/git/gitlab/config/gitlab.yml and add or amend the following lines:

    uploads:
      storage_path: /mnt/storage
      base_dir: uploads
  2. Save the file and restart GitLab for the changes to take effect.

Using object storage (CORE ONLY)

Notes:

If you don't want to use the local disk where GitLab is installed to store the uploads, you can use an object storage provider like AWS S3 instead. This configuration relies on valid AWS credentials to be configured already.

Read more about using object storage with GitLab.

We recommend using the consolidated object storage settings. The following instructions apply to the original configuration format.

Object Storage Settings

For source installations the following settings are nested under uploads: and then object_store:. On Omnibus GitLab installs they are prefixed by uploads_object_store_.

Setting Description Default
enabled Enable/disable object storage false
remote_directory The bucket name where Uploads will be stored
direct_upload Set to true to remove Puma from the Upload path. Workhorse handles the actual Artifact Upload to Object Storage while Puma does minimal processing to keep track of the upload. There is no need for local shared storage. The option may be removed if support for a single storage type for all files is introduced. Read more on direct upload. false
background_upload Set to false to disable automatic upload. Option may be removed once upload is direct to S3 (if direct_upload is set to true it will override background_upload) true
proxy_download Set to true to enable proxying all files served. Option allows to reduce egress traffic as this allows clients to download directly from remote storage instead of proxying all data false
connection Various connection options described below

Connection settings

See the available connection settings for different providers.

In Omnibus installations:

The uploads are stored by default in /var/opt/gitlab/gitlab-rails/public/uploads/-/system.

  1. Edit /etc/gitlab/gitlab.rb and add the following lines by replacing with the values you want:

    gitlab_rails['uploads_object_store_enabled'] = true
    gitlab_rails['uploads_object_store_remote_directory'] = "uploads"
    gitlab_rails['uploads_object_store_connection'] = {
      'provider' => 'AWS',
      'region' => 'eu-central-1',
      'aws_access_key_id' => 'AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID',
      'aws_secret_access_key' => 'AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY'
    }

    If you are using AWS IAM profiles, be sure to omit the AWS access key and secret access key/value pairs.

    gitlab_rails['uploads_object_store_connection'] = {
      'provider' => 'AWS',
      'region' => 'eu-central-1',
      'use_iam_profile' => true
    }
  2. Save the file and reconfigure GitLab for the changes to take effect.

  3. Migrate any existing local uploads to the object storage using gitlab:uploads:migrate:all Rake task.

In installations from source:

The uploads are stored by default in /home/git/gitlab/public/uploads/-/system.

  1. Edit /home/git/gitlab/config/gitlab.yml and add or amend the following lines:

    uploads:
      object_store:
        enabled: true
        remote_directory: "uploads" # The bucket name
        connection:
          provider: AWS # Only AWS supported at the moment
          aws_access_key_id: AWS_ACESS_KEY_ID
          aws_secret_access_key: AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY
          region: eu-central-1
  2. Save the file and restart GitLab for the changes to take effect.

  3. Migrate any existing local uploads to the object storage using gitlab:uploads:migrate:all Rake task.

OpenStack example

In Omnibus installations:

The uploads are stored by default in /var/opt/gitlab/gitlab-rails/public/uploads/-/system.

  1. Edit /etc/gitlab/gitlab.rb and add the following lines by replacing with the values you want:

    gitlab_rails['uploads_object_store_remote_directory'] = "OPENSTACK_OBJECT_CONTAINER_NAME"
    gitlab_rails['uploads_object_store_connection'] = {
     'provider' => 'OpenStack',
     'openstack_username' => 'OPENSTACK_USERNAME',
     'openstack_api_key' => 'OPENSTACK_PASSWORD',
     'openstack_temp_url_key' => 'OPENSTACK_TEMP_URL_KEY',
     'openstack_auth_url' => 'https://auth.cloud.ovh.net/v2.0/',
     'openstack_region' => 'DE1',
     'openstack_tenant' => 'TENANT_ID',
    }
  2. Save the file and reconfigure GitLab for the changes to take effect.

  3. Migrate any existing local uploads to the object storage using gitlab:uploads:migrate:all Rake task.


In installations from source:

The uploads are stored by default in /home/git/gitlab/public/uploads/-/system.

  1. Edit /home/git/gitlab/config/gitlab.yml and add or amend the following lines:

    uploads:
      object_store:
        enabled: true
        direct_upload: false
        background_upload: true
        proxy_download: false
        remote_directory: OPENSTACK_OBJECT_CONTAINER_NAME
        connection:
          provider: OpenStack
          openstack_username: OPENSTACK_USERNAME
          openstack_api_key: OPENSTACK_PASSWORD
          openstack_temp_url_key: OPENSTACK_TEMP_URL_KEY
          openstack_auth_url: 'https://auth.cloud.ovh.net/v2.0/'
          openstack_region: DE1
          openstack_tenant: 'TENANT_ID'
  2. Save the file and reconfigure GitLab for the changes to take effect.

  3. Migrate any existing local uploads to the object storage using gitlab:uploads:migrate:all Rake task.